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SDSU men, women win trip to NCAA tourney again

SIOUX FALLS — Make it three in a row for the South Dakota State men’s basketball team.

A big offensive performance from David Jenkins Jr. and hot outside shooting lifted the top-seeded Jackrabbits back to the NCAA tournament, as SDSU claimed the Summit League tournament championship 97-87 in front of a record 11,114 fans at the Premier Center Tuesday.

It marks the fifth time in seven years that SDSU (28-6) has made the NCAAs, and the Jackrabbits have qualified for the Big Dance in both of coach T.J. Otzelberger’s seasons as SDSU’s coach.

Jenkins finished the game with 29 points, on 10-for-19 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Mike Daum, who was limited by foul trouble for most of the first half, finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Reed Tellinghuisen added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Brandon Key — who averages less than six points per game — sparked SDSU with 10 points and six assists.

USD’s Matt Mooney, a first-team all-Summit performer all year, was the primary Coyote to get hot, scoring 30 points on 9-for-26 shooting. Tyler Peterson and Tyler Hagedorn each scored 15 points in the loss for USD (26-8).

In the women’s tourney final earlier in the day, the Jackrabbit women’s basketball team has never lost when reaching the final. Macy Miller and the Jacks made sure that didn’t change Tuesday.

The Jackrabbits won their eighth Summit League tournament championship in 10 tries with a 65-50 victory over top-seeded South Dakota Tuesday afternoon in front of 8,704 fans at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

“This feeling is amazing right now,” Miller said on the court following the postgame awards, repeating her own history with her second career Summit League tournament MVP award.

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